


Couldn't Say Hello

by butyoumight



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: August Sheith Week, Dissociation, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-22
Updated: 2016-08-22
Packaged: 2018-08-10 08:12:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7837102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/butyoumight/pseuds/butyoumight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>It's not that Lance was necessarily wrong. Keith </i>was<i> the one most likely to either have an answer ready, or get an answer out of Shiro.</i></p>
<p>Twitter Sheith Week, SFW prompt 1: <i><b>Date</b>:  the day, month, or year on which an event happens or happened.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Couldn't Say Hello

**Author's Note:**

> My husband, [borrowedphrases](http://archiveofourown.org/users/borrowedphrases/pseuds/borrowedphrases), is doing the NSFW prompts. Go see!

It wasn't like Shiro to not be the first awake, already in the training deck or running drills in Black before anyone else was even awake. Today was different, _alarmingly_ different, Keith noted, as even Lance ambled into the training deck, fully armored with his helmet tucked under his arm.

“Where's Shiro?” He asked between yawns, rubbing at the back of his neck. The question was directed at the whole room, but his eyes were on Keith. Like it was Keith's personal responsibility to answer questions when something was wrong with Shiro.

It's not that Lance was necessarily wrong about that, Keith admitted to himself as he knocked tentatively on Shiro's door. Keith _was_ the one most likely to either have an answer ready, or get an answer out of Shiro.

There was no answer from inside the room, but Keith knew Shiro was in there, so he knocked again, a little more insistently, and leaned against the door jamb to speak against the crack where the door slid open.

“Shiro? It's Keith.” There was a response this time, a kind of muffled thump. So Shiro was probably awake. Keith cleared his throat and knocked again. “Can I come in?”

There was another thump, and then Shiro's voice. “Yeah. Come in.” He sounded far away, and not just in a distance way. Keith frowned, leaning back from the door as it slid open at Shiro's half-hearted command.

Shiro was sitting up in his bunk. He was leaning against the wall, with his knees pulled up to his chest. His boots were on the floor, but otherwise he was fully dressed. Even as Keith stood there watching, Shiro let his head fall back against the wall. That at least explained the thumping.

His wrists were resting on his knees, his hands clasped between them. He seemed to be holding something, but Keith couldn't tell what from this angle.

What Keith _could_ see from this angle was Shiro's eyes. Shadowed, the dark circles under his eyes more pronounced than usual, which was impressive for Shiro's face, since he didn't sleep well these days to begin with. That wasn't even the worst part, though. The worst part was the distance in Shiro's eyes, a look that matched the distance in his voice from just a moment ago.

Shiro was somewhere else.

It happened sometimes, Keith knew that. He'd seen it enough, though to be fair, 'enough' was just once. The thing was, usually it was when they were in combat. Shiro had obviously not left his room since yesterday, and yet here he was, somewhere else.

Keith hovered beside the bunk for a second before he leaned in, clearing his throat. Shiro's eyes sort of... Shuddered, and his eyes flicked up towards Keith for just a moment before looking back at what he was holding. Keith saw now that it was... his watch.

Shiro shifted slightly and his head started to fall back again. Keith dropped one knee onto the bunk beside Shiro, leaning in to slide his hand behind Shiro's head before it smacked into the wall again. Instead, the back of Shiro's skull landed squarely in Keith's palm.

That must have been the trick. With another little shake, Shiro stretched his legs out, dropped his hands into his lap, and turned his head to look at Keith. Actually look _at_ him, not _into_ him or _past_ him.

“Keith.” He said softly. His voice was still far away, but... It seemed to be getting closer, kind of.

Keith managed a smile. “Hey.” He said, letting his hand slip down a bit to rest on the back of Shiro's neck instead. “You alright?”

“Huh? Yeah.” Shiro shook his head slowly, kind of like a dog with water in his ears. Keith relaxed slightly, settling down beside Shiro on the bunk. “Sorry. It's late, isn't it?” Shiro lifted up the watch, but he was obviously holding it in such a way that he couldn't see the face of it.

Well at least Keith had an idea of what it was that sent Shiro far away. Keith reached with his free hand, and put his hand around Shiro's and the watch. “It's no problem.” He said. “We can train whenever.”

They were quiet for a moment before Shiro cleared his throat. When he spoke again, his voice was completely present again. “Sorry about that. I'm not sure what got into me.”

Keith wet his lips and tilted his head and gave Shiro a kind of half-smirk. “I think it might have had something to do with your watch.” Keith's hand was still wrapped around it, and Shiro's grip had loosened, so he pulled the watch free of Shiro's fingers and slipped it into his pocket, instead. “Since I don't think it was the time of day...”

Shiro sighed, pulling one knee up again and folding his arms around his leg, resting his forehead on his knee. “What a mess. I was doing fine, I was just checking the time, and I saw the date...”

Keith raised an eyebrow but he restrained the impulse to ask. If Shiro wanted to tell him, he would on his own. If not, well... It wasn't _really_ any of Keith's business anyway.

“Um.” Shiro said quietly, rolling his head to the side to fix one eye on Keith. He had a slight smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, a self-deprecating smirk. “Today, um. Today's the day we were supposed to come back.”

Keith actually felt his mouth go dry, his throat closing up. He was right, of course. The Kerberos mission had been meticulously scheduled. How long it was going to take them to get out there, how long they were going to be there taking samples and running tests, how long it would take them to get back to Earth. Even how long they would be kept in quarantine, down to the day.

“I guess it kind of threw me off.” Shiro finished, closing his eyes with a little sigh.

Keith shifted again, turning to sit beside Shiro properly, sliding his arm around Shiro's waist and giving a little tug. Shiro lifted his head and leaned over, resting his head on Keith's shoulder.

“That... Is so totally understandable.” Shiro gave a little scoff, and Keith smacked him gently in the side. “Shiro, seriously. It's okay. We'll take a day off.”

They sat quietly for a moment, then Shiro shook his head slowly. His hair tickled Keith's cheek, and Keith managed not to laugh.

“No. I want to get up. Shake it off. You know?”

Keith did laugh this time, it it was a fond little chuckle. He turned his head, pressing his lips into Shiro's hair. “Okay. Let's get your boots on.”


End file.
